Norton Hill Pharmacy funding boost from Labour Plan for Change

Left to Right: Mary Creagh MP, Peter Lal (manager/owner), Kulwant Uppal (technician) and Rakesh Kapila (owner)

Mary visited Norton Hill Pharmacy in Wyken to hear about the vital role pharmacies play in supporting the health and wellbeing of local residents. She spoke to the pharmacy owners Peter Lal and Rakesh Kapila, and several members of their teem including Kulwant Uppal (technician), Darshinee Doubt and Lorraine Moloney(dispensers), and Graham Smith (driver)

Peter has managed the business for 20 years, alongside a second pharmacy in Birmingham. They support residents within a five mile radius and deliver lots of prescriptions to people’s homes. The pharmacy team encourage people to recycle unused medicines, and Mary was told that some of these are sent to Ukraine to support people there.

The Labour government’s Plan for Change has delivered record investment for community pharmacies. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, community pharmacies across Coventry were feeling the pressure and some were even facing closure. The Labour government promised they would shift the focus of care from hospital to community and. In March the government announced the first full-year funding package for the sector since 2023, providing community pharmacies with an extra £617 million over two years.

This package of record investment and reform is a vital first step to getting community pharmacies back on their feet and fit for the future. The government is working in partnership with community pharmacy to deliver more care for patients closer to their home, freeing up GP appointments, and catching ill-health earlier and preventing it in the first place.